Richard Seireeni is a 30-year veteran in brand consulting and marketing. He has been art director of Rolling Stone magazine, creative director of Warner Bros. Records, and cocreative director of EnterpriseIG, New York. He has managed his own consulting business, The Brand Architect Group (www.brandarchitect.com), in Los Angeles since 1984, with affiliated offices in Tokyo and Shanghai. Seireeni graduated from the University of Washington School of Architecture and is a member of the US Green Building Council. Seireeni lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and two children.

Published on: February 2009What this book is about? (from the book's website)

"Green" has gone mainstream, and for many companies caring for the environment is not just a philosophy, it’s a marketing strategy. So how does a company that’s genuinely committed to green principles differentiate itself from its greenwashing competitors?

Brand expert Richard Seireeni interviewed more than 30 "eco-capitalists" from a broad range of industries—home improvement, transportation, household products, food and beverage, energy, real estate, finance, and fashion. The collective experience of leaders such as Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farms, Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, and the grandsons of Dr. Bronner, as well as other green experts, are a rich source of wisdom for green businesses getting off the ground or for any business aiming to improve its environmental performance.

The result of these interviews is the "Gort Cloud"—a term coined by the author that describes the vast and largely invisible network of NGOs, trendspotters, advocacy groups, social networks, business alliances, certifying organizations, and other members of the green community that have the power to make or break new green brands.

Integrating the Gort Cloud into brand development and marketing strategies is critical to the success of any aspiring green brand. This "green community" can supply technical assistance, venture capital, the first line of core customers, and tremendous “echo effect” in getting the word out quickly and inexpensively. Creating a cause, building credibility, developing a simple and compelling message, identifying core customers and sales channels, deftly playing the green alternative media, and fending off second-to-market competitors are all required to build a green brand.

How these skills are put into practice will vary for each business, but Seireeni’s research points toward a set of shared characteristics and basic tenets that every business can use to build a credible and successful green brand.

Why you should get it?If you're part of the green marketplace this book is a must. But even if you're not involved, but just interested in the green economy this is the book for you. Not only that you're learn about this fascinating phenomenon he calls 'the gort cloud', but you also get an insider look into some of most successful green businesses.

For example, I thought I knew TerraCycle really well before reading the chapter on the company (Think Big or Go Home) and understanding I got to know only the tip of the iceberg. Seireeni, talking with some of the most interesting and successful ecopreneurs, managed to bring us stories you can't read nowhere else.

And it's not only the stories of these companies that makes this book such an interesting one. It's also the point of view of Seireeni, who manages to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and create a unique big picture no one really managed to show before. It's not atomic physics but nevertheless his achievement is impressive and even more is essential to anyone who tries to get a macro look into the development of the green marketplace.

All in all, this is one of the best green marketing and branding books written lately, providing not only a clear view about the past and the present of the green economy, but also valuable lessons to its future. And of course we should mention the book is printed on FSC-certified 30% post consumer waste recycled paper supplied by the Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group.What others think about the book?"Creating a successful green product is equal parts art, science, and persistence. But it also requires a depth of market insights that separate the leaders from the rest of the pack. The Gort Cloud offers a wealth of knowledge, digging deep into the iconic green brands and pulling out insights that can help entrepreneurs and marketers create the next generation of authentic, market-shifting brands." - Joel Makower, Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com, and author, Strategies for the Green Economy

"In his remarkable The Gort Cloud, Richard Seireeni details the intersection of two of society's most important forces: The Green Movement and the Social Media revolution. He shows how companies playing in that intersection can become terrifically successful, but only if they play by the unwritten rules." -David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and World Wide Rave

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